City centre shop staff 'fear for their lives' after attack by customers at Coventry store

Separate incidents saw workers 'assaulted' by members of the public



City centre shop staff go to work in 'fear for their lives' a Coventry resident has said. The comments come after multiple workers were physically attacked by customers at a well known Coventry supermarket

Sainsbury's has said it is investing in security measures amid reports of separate incidents at its Trinity Road [sic] store last week. The incidents happened in the city centre on Wednesday 23 July.

CoventryLive was told there were three individual incidents which saw staff being "assaulted" by members of the public. The same source told us staff working in shops around the town "are in fear of their lives".

Sainsbury's is aware, but says there were only two incidents recorded on that day, both being reported to police. A Coventry resident who works in the city centre and wishes to remain anonymous shared their fears with us.

"Coventry city centre shop workers are suffering at the hands of children and shoplifters every single day," they said. "The physical and verbal assaults are growing - three staff members at Trinity St Sainsbury's were assaulted in one day as an example.

"The staff are in fear of their lives, however extreme this may sound." A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “Nothing is more important than making our stores safe places to work and shop and we continue to invest significantly in a range of security measures.

"Police were contacted about two incidents at our Coventry superstore last Wednesday." We have approached West Midlands Police for more information.

I was threatened by a customer who had to wait behind me a couple of minutes before he could buy alcohol.

A security guard standing just a few feet away said nothing.